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United Kingdom | Diageo, the world’s largest drinks firm, avoided the worst of President Trump’s chaotic trade policy this month. Not only were its Don Julio tequila in Mexico and Crown Royal whiskey in Canada spared additional tariffs – they are altogether exempt from import tariffs in the US under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a free trade agreement which was negotiated by the first Trump administration and came into effect in 2020.
United Kingdom | Diageo has sold its majority stake in Seychelles Breweries to Mauritius-based Phoenix Beverages for around USD 80 million, media reported in early April. The owner of Guinness held a 54.4 percent stake in the only total beverage company in Seychelles, which also makes SeyBrew beer. The firm will continue to be listed on the Seychelles Stock Exchange after the deal is closed.
Denmark | British drinks firm Diageo is changing its strategy, which will hit the award-winning Danish distiller Stauning hard. On 28 March Stauning had to lay off 13 of its 50 employees and cut production by half. The future looks uncertain, now that its main investor Diageo has backed out of its incubator Distill Ventures.
Austria | A spectacular change in the beer landscape: Salzburg's traditional Sternbräu beer hall, one of Austria's largest on-premise accounts, has terminated its beer supply contract with Brau Union and is switching to local brewer Stiegl.
Germany | Independent breweries in Austria and Germany are sounding the alarm and fear for the diversity of beer. The reason: The Danish brewer is claiming barley plants from classic breeding and their use for brewing beer as its “invention” and has been granted a patent (EP2575433 B1) at the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich. This means that all other breweries have to pay license fees if they want to use this patented barley.
Germany | Massive cost increases are causing more and more breweries to go out of business. Over the past five years, the number of breweries in Germany has fallen by 93. This corresponds to a decline of 6 percent. According to the Federal Statistical Office, there were only 1459 breweries operating in 2024. This past year alone, 52 brewery businesses failed.
Russia | Propaganda, misinformation or fake news? According to the Russian newssite Kommersant (10 March), Russian importers want to bring in beer from the Dominican Republic. This decision was made against the backdrop of a tenfold increase in duties on beer from “unfriendly” countries, like the EU.
Russia | Russia’s small brewers have asked the Ministry of Economic Development to establish a minimum unit pricing for beer, the newssite Kommersant reported on 14 March. “Opora Rossii” (“Support for Russia”), an NGO supporting small and medium-sized businesses, believes that the MUP will stop the anti-competitive practice of selling beer at below cost price, which harms small companies.
United Kingdom | So many James, so little time. BrewDog has announced it has appointed a new CEO for the second time in a year. CEO James Arrow has departed for “personal reasons”, effective immediately. He had taken up the role after BrewDog’s co-founder James Watt decided to step down in May 2024.
Belgium | AB-InBev has denied a report that thousands of jobs are on the block this year at its Asia-Pacific unit Budweiser Brewing Co APAC. Bloomberg reported on 13 March, that the firm was looking to cut operational costs by about 15 percent this year, which may include thousands of job cuts. In 2024 already, Budweiser APAC axed some 4 000 jobs, or 16 percent of its 25 000-strong workforce.
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BRAUWELT on tour
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BRAUWELT on tour
